Ilana Cerna-Turoff

"Media is one of the most effective ways to convey information. But today, most media is owned by white, rich, straight and male individuals. Our media is skewed. The issues and aesthetics are not representative of the majority of the population. This is where media justice comes in. It’s important to have media that represents us, especially for marginalized groups, who want to influence public opinion, raise awareness and change social inequalities. In the right hands, media has all of this potential."

Ilana is a 24-year-old, queer and genderqueer, Black/Mexican/Jewish/Native organizer from New York City. Ilana has a wide range of experience from legal work around anti-gentrification, to political prisoner campaigns, to organizing conferences on Indigenous rights and feminisms. Recently, Ilana has been involved in community organizations that focus on youth of color empowerment and political education, including the Sylvia Rivera Law Project in New York.

Putting theory into practice, Ilana is currently enrolled in the masters program in ethnic studies at San Francisco State, while making ample time to create cultural resistance through poetry, performance, blogs and media activism. Ilana's praxis as a radical academic, fierce cultural worker and tireless community activist makes Ilana a true fighter for media justice.